The Voice and The Vessel: Married Life
by abomb30
Summary: A collection of side stories chronicling the married life of the title characters.
1. The Voice's Birthday

"I don't see why you need me along for this, Anna," I said crossly as she dragged me by the arm through the streets of Ylisstol. "Visiting your sister doesn't seem like a particularly good use of my time. I have more important things on my agenda today."

"Because Robin," she said cheerily, "it's not every day that my sister sends me a message about coming into possession of a legendary gemstone."

"Oh? That's probably something you should have led with," I said as I stopped resisting her grip quite as much. "Although I'm still not sure what that has to do with me."

"I want to buy it from her, obviously. And she's only in Ylisstol today."

"Clearly I'm still missing something, because you continue to not make it clear why I need to be here."

"I know my sister, Robin. She's going to try to price gouge me. You're here to make sure she doesn't." We passed a few of the stalls being run by the traders who were coming through the city for the day. Anna's sister's was apparently near the city gate. A few people tried to stop us, but Anna kept doggedly moving forward.

"How?"

"You're a smart guy, and a big guy. You'll think of something."

"...Right. So what is this legendary gemstone?" Even though she wasn't facing me I could tell that her face had lit up and my question. Of course it had, we were talking about a valuable product she'd be able to sell for a huge profit.

"It's called Mila's Tear. The legend says that when the great hero Alm released Mila with his Falchion, she gave up her physical form and became a spirit. The gemstone was the single tear she shed before her body disappeared."

"Let me guess. In reality it's just some low quality diamond someone found and built up a legend around it," I said. Anna believed in the gods, but she wasn't really one for myths and legends.

"It's an amethyst, actually, and my sister says it's pretty high quality, but otherwise you're right. But people buy into legends, which means they buy legends." And the obvious truth was spoken out loud.

"Fine," I said. "You can let go of me now. I'm convinced."

"Thanks Robin, I owe you one," she said happily. She finally let go of my arm and we started walking together at a more leisurely pace.

"Yes you do, especially since you made me do this today."

"Oh you'll live," she said. "Look, there's her tent," she said as she pointed to a tent that was the same shades of red and yellow as her outfit. Gods, did they all dress the same way too? Were red and yellow the family colors?

As we reached the entrance a disheveled-looking man walked out and bumped into me. He mumbled and apology and kept walking. Anna looked annoyed as she followed the path he took away from us.

"I can't believe my sister lets people like that shop at her stall. There's no way he had enough money for a decent sale. She's always been too generous for her own good," she said grumpily.

"What, does she only charge fifty gold for a bushel of apples instead of seventy-five?"

"That was one time, Robin. And they were really good apples."

"Okay," I said, "that's fair." They had been. We were about to enter the tent when Anna came out in a rush. The other Anna, that is. The sister who was visiting and who was also dressed the same as the Anna with me and who looked exactly the same as the Anna with me and...gods, how did they keep track? Other Anna looked frantic as she bumped into us.

"Wh—sis? You're here? And you must be Robin. You've gotta help me!" She sounded just as frantic as she looked.

"What is it?" I asked gently.

"Did you see a shifty-looking guy pass by?" I suspected I knew where she was going with this line of questioning.

"We did."

"He stole the gem! Mila's Tear is gone! You have to help me!" I had never seen my Anna look so angry or determined even as she continued to track the man's path.

"After him, Robin! That's my rock he's got!" She took off after the man. I was a step or two behind her. The man saw us, not that we were hard to miss, and took off at a dead sprint. Fortunately his clothes made him stand out from the crowd so we could see where he was going. He bumped into someone and knocked them into a stall, which caused a bit of a ruckus. Anna and I got a little bogged down in the confusion and the man gained a step on us.

He turned down an alley. We were hot on his heels but when we turned the corner we didn't see him. What we did see was a grate that covered a hole that led into the drainage tunnels that led out of the city. It had been carelessly tossed aside. It wasn't hard to guess where the man had gone. Anna was still ahead of me and she fairly flew down the ladder and into the tunnel. I followed her a second later as I heard her call out.

"Robin! Get me some light!" I landed next to her in the tunnel and made a small fireball in my hand.

"Which way did he go?" I asked her.

"Probably that way," she said as she pointed what I assumed was east. "That way leads right to the castle."

"How do you...never mind. But what if he knew you knew that and went towards the castle?"

"He's a thief, Robin, they're not usually bright." She started east and once again I was a step behind her. Her instincts ended up being right. We heard splashing ahead of us a minute or so later. He was either getting tired or thought he had gotten away. Anna picked up the pace and nearly tripped. I helped her steady herself and we kept moving. He must have heard us coming because the pace of the splashed picked up. "Dammit, he's almost at the river. Hurry!" We started running harder. It was a little difficult since we were ankle-deep in water, but Anna was clearly practiced at this. I wasn't so skilled, but I still managed to mostly keep up.

We finally caught sight of him about a hundred feet ahead of us. I saw a flash of purple in his left hand which I presumed was the gem. He was about fifty feet from the tunnel's exit into the river. If he made it there all hope was lost. I wasn't a particularly talented swimmer and to my knowledge Anna wasn't either. If he was he'd be gone once he hit the water.

"Stop, damn you!" yelled Anna. Incredibly, he decided not to. Anna reached into her pocket and pulled out what looked like a metal ball. I wasn't sure what it was, but with her there was no way to know. Maybe it was just a metal ball or maybe it was some kind of good luck charm. Whatever it was, she wound up and flung it at the man on a dead run. It slammed right into his back and sent him tumbling head-over-heels about ten feet from the end of the tunnel. Anna cried out in triumph and rushed forward. The man scrambled to get back to his feet, looked over his shoulder at us, and apparently decided he was caught. Then he did something I didn't expect and Anna certainly didn't expect. He flung the gemstone into the river. "NOOOOO!" cried Anna as she tackled the man. They landed in the shallow water of the tunnel and started sputtering.

I caught up and offered Anna a hand. Then I dragged the man by the collar to his feet. He was coughing and gagging.

"How could you?!" she yelled angrily. I had never seen her madder than this. I interposed myself between the two before she throttled him to death.

"Anna!" I barked. "Calm down!"

"But Robin you saw...the gem...MY MONEY!" She lunged but I blocked her with one hand.

"Anna! Let me handle this! Step back. Now." She very, very reluctantly did so, but only because it was the hand that had the fireball in it. I turned to the man whose collar I was still holding. In the dim light I could see that he looked young and dirty and he had shaggy brown hair.

"Why'd you do it?" Once he had finished coughing he spoke in a very odd accent. I could barely understand him.

"Caught me," he said. "Weren't gettin' away wit' t' rock anyways. Figgered 'twas a loss. Best ta not let any fool 'ave it." Anna was clearly livid, but didn't say anything.

"That's it," I said to her. "It's gone now. If we're lucky maybe it landed at the bottom of the river, but it's probably in the sea by now."

"I'm gonna look for it," she said as she retrieved her metal ball. "Maybe it hasn't gone far."

"I'll take this one to the guards and come back," I said.

"Yeah. Fine," she said. She sounded despondent. I started dragging the man with me back towards the ladder we had come in.

* * *

About two hours of searching through hip-to-neck-deep water later we gave up and returned to the city.

"...It's gone," she said once we had finished drying off. "The most valuable gem in the world and he just threw it into the river. And now it's gone." I put a consoling hand on her shoulder.

"There'll be other gemstones, Anna. You can't let it get you down for too long."

"But this was Mila's Tear. If I had sold it for a good enough profit I could have retired." Her voice was filled with despair.

"Retirement wouldn't suit you," I said brightly. "There's no money in it."

"I...guess that's true," she said grudgingly.

"Come on," I said as I clapped her on the back, "I'll buy you lunch. I know it's a little late, but still."

"Yeah, sure...Thanks, Robin. For trying."

"Anytime," I said. We walked to what I knew was her favorite restaurant in the city. It wasn't crowded at this point in the mid-afternoon, so we got a table right away. We ordered and had our food in ten minutes. She barely touched hers, but went wild on the three bottles of liquor she had ordered. When she had finished she sat in silence. I didn't really have anything to say to console her, so I just paid for the food when we were done. She stood up.

"Thanks," she said. Her voice was a little uneven from all the alcohol, but she didn't sound drunk.

"I'm really sorry," I said kindly.

"Yeah. Gonna go tell my sister. Lotta money. See you."

"You want me to come with you?"

"Nah. 'm fine." She walked out. I sat back in my chair and ordered a cake for dessert.

Ten minutes later, the disheveled man walked into the restaurant along with Anna. Not my Anna, though. The other Anna. The visiting Anna. The man's clothing was much nicer than it had been before, and his face wasn't dirty, and his hair wasn't shaggy or brown, it was neat and reddish, but it was still clearly him. They sat down at my table right as my cake arrived.

"You owe me big for taking that shot to the back, Bubbles," said Gaius.

"Oh please," I said, "you got paid. And besides, a third of this cake is yours."

"Mm...alright, you win. We're square." He cut himself a slice and started eating. "Ooh, that's the good stuff."

"I still can't believe she threw that at you," said Anna. "All of us get one of those when we get our first shop. It's a family tradition." Gaius shrugged and kept at his cake.

"She got it back. But what about you, Anna?" I said to her. "We never discussed payment. What do I owe you?"

"Oh gods," she said with barely-contained laughter, "you don't owe me a thing. The look on my sister's face was payment enough." She pulled a small package out of her satchel and handed it to me. "Well okay, the look and the agreed-upon price for this," she said. I handed her a small pouch containing the exorbitant sum of fifty gold. She took it and motioned to Gaius. "I'm surprised at how good this one is at jewelry-making. And also forging fake legendary gemstones." She looked over at him and flashed a trademark Anna grin. "You should come work with me. You'd make a great partner."

"Appreciate the offer, Red two" he said as he held up his left hand which now had a ring on it, "But I'm married."

"Tch. All the good ones are." She looked back at me. "You've got a good one with you here."

"He is a man of many talents, not least among them disguise," I said. "Still, I feel a little bad. She looked really heartbroken. And the booze was expensive."

"Oh she'll get over it," said Anna. "She kind of deserves the lesson anyway. And as mad as she'll be when she finds out, she'll be happier the stone isn't gone forever. Although she'll spend the rest of her life trying to buy it."

"I doubt that," I said. "My wife can be very...dissuasive."

"You would know better than me," she said. "Now...for the rest of my payment." She cut herself a third of the cake and put it on her plate, then took a bite. "Gods, he's not kidding. This really is the good stuff."

"Best cake in the city," I said as I helped myself to my portion. Once I had finished I ordered a second and paid for both. Once it came I had it packed up to take out with me and bade farewell to my dining companions. "Evening you two, and many thanks for all your help."

"No problem, Bubbles. See ya 'round," said Gaius.

"It was nice to see you!" said Anna cheerily.

"You too!" I said and departed. I carefully balanced the package and the cake as I walked home. It made the trip take an extra twenty minutes, but I didn't mind. I couldn't have been happier with how the day had gone. Okay, I would have been a little happier if Anna hadn't been so upset, but I consoled myself by saying that she had gotten a free lunch and a valuable life lesson about greed.

I reached the door of my house and carefully knocked with the hand that had the package.

"Who is it?" I heard from the other side.

"Your beloved father," I said. The door flew open and Morgan's bright smiled greeted me.

"Welcome home dad! Oh! Is that for mom? I got her out of the house like you asked, but it probably won't take her that long so you'd better hurry." I handed Morgan the package and carried the cake to the back room where it could stay hidden. Then I lit a couple of candles and started making dinner. It wasn't anything elaborate, just a liver-and-eel pie, but I at least knew it was the one thing I could make well.

"How was your day? Did everything go right?" asked Morgan.

"It did," I said and ruffled her hair. "Thanks for doing your part. And thanks for taking care of your mom for me today."

"Don't worry, we had a bunch of fun," she said. "Although she was...a little disappointed that you were busy." I knew she would be. And I felt guilty about it, but I had known Anna was going to be dragging me out there from the start since I'd gotten the message from her sister. Apparently my Anna didn't know that we had met the other Anna once before.

"I know. I'll apologize to her when she gets back." Once the pie was in the oven I went upstairs to my bedroom to change into clean clothes before my wife got home. When the pie was about almost done baking I heard a knock at the door.

"Morgan dear, I'm home," said a gentle voice. I looked at Morgan.

"I'll get it," I said. Morgan nodded.

"Just a second, mom!" called Morgan. I walked to the door, unlocked it, and pulled it open.

"Hello Mor—Robin!" said Tiki. She broke into a wide grin.

"Hello, my love," I said. She was holding a satchel in one hand so I didn't pick her up like I had planned to, but I did throw my arms around her and give her a kiss. "Welcome home."

"I thought you would be busy all day," she said as she relaxed into my hug.

"I wanted to surprise you," I said, "so I came home early." Which was, strictly speaking, true. I thought Gaius was going to make the chase take a little longer. I kissed her again for a little longer. "Dinner should be ready in the next few minutes."

"Is it perchance liver-and-eel pie?"

"That is your favorite, no?"

"Of course," she said and decided it was her turn to kiss me. I wasn't complaining. She slipped an arm around my waist and we walked together into the kitchen. Morgan was waiting there. She looked disgusted.

"You guys are gross, you know," she said.

"You'll have a daughter who says the same thing to you one day," I said brightly.

"Dear Grandma I hope not." Tiki and I laughed. Tiki handed Morgan the satchel which contained some clothes she had sent off to get repaired. I took the pie out of the oven and sent a quick gust of wind over it to cool it off. I cut it into thirds and we all sat down to enjoy it.

"How was your day, darling?" Tiki asked me as she finished her serving of pie.

"Eventful," I said evenly. "How was yours?"

"Morgan and I had a wonderful day, though in truth I wish you were here to share it."

"I know," I said. "I'm sorry, I wish I had been." I did, but hopefully the results of my work would make up for it.

"Still, I'm glad you made it home in time for supper."

"Not only that," I said as we all finished. "Wait here." I stood up and went to the back room. I stuck the package in my pocket and picked up the cake. I carried the cake back into the dining room and was rewarded with Tiki's gasp of delight when she saw it.

"Oh! Robin! It looks delicious!" I put it down on the table and she jumped up to give me another hug and a kiss. I saw Morgan leave the room while pantomiming a gag.

"It's your favorite," I said in a low voice. "And I got you something. Be careful, it's fragile." I pulled the package out of my pocket and handed it to her. She opened it. The second gasp of delight and the smile on her face made every moment of running through the sewers and searching the river worth it.

"Oh Robin, this is such a beautiful necklace! The gem is so lovely, and you even used an amethyst!" I took it and placed it around her neck. It looked so beautiful on her that it made me want to cry. "Though it must have cost a fortune."

"Not really," I said, "I just had to do some work for it."

"Is that why you were busy all day?"

"Yes. Sorry I didn't tell you. I wanted it to be a surprise."

"It is, and a wonderful surprise at that. Thank you so much." We stepped away from the table. Now that we were clear of any obstacles, I finally had my chance. I swept her up in my arms. She squealed happily and hugged my neck. We shared our deepest kiss of the evening. When we were finished I rested my forehead against hers. She gave a satisfied sigh. Before I put her down so we could eat cake I finally remembered the one thing I hadn't told her yet. I flashed her my warmest smile.

"Happy birthday, Tiki."

 **A/N: At the suggestion of a guest reviewer, I'm going to move any and all side works over here to avoid confusion with the main work, or the chronology might get a little wonky.**

 **Oh yeah, spoilers: The two leads whose epithets are the title of the work end up together.**


	2. The Scion's Birthday

"Morgan, can you go fetch some water and fresh bedsheets, please?" dad asked me.

"Okay dad!" I said. I ran off to the kitchen and got a bowl of water, put it down, got some bedsheets, forgot where I put the water, went back to get another bowl, dropped the bedsheets, got another set, found the first bowl of water, and then finally got back to the room where mom and dad were with both things in hand.

"What took you so long?" dad asked. He sounded angry, or maybe tired, or maybe stressed, or maybe all three.

"Sorry dad," I said. "Messed a couple things up. Here you go!" He sighed and nodded.

"Right. Thank you. Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you."

"It's okay, I know you're dealing with a lot." I heard mom cry in pain from behind him. "Bye dad, I'll see you later."

"Bye." He shut the door. I walked away and sat down to read. I couldn't really concentrate though, so instead I got up and started exploring the castle for a while. It was boring. There wasn't anything to do. I went outside and walked into the courtyard. Cynthia was out there practicing, so I watched her for a little while until she noticed me and stopped.

"Hi Morgan!" she called out as she waved and ran over to me.

"Hey Cynthia. I got bored so I started wandering and then I saw you out here training so I thought I'd watch."

"I do look pretty dashing when I'm training, don't I?" I shrugged.

"You're at least more exciting to watch than a wall."

"Ouch. That hurts."

"I know!"

"So do you wanna go eat lunch together? We can go find Lucy too. She was training not long ago. She's probably taking a break."

"Okay," I said. Cynthia and I went into one of the guardhouses to see if Lucina was there taking a break from her training. She was.

"Hey Lucy, you wanna come eat lunch with us?" Lucina nodded.

"Alright. I have worked up a bit of an appetite. Hello, Morgan," she said as she nodded to me.

"Hey Lucina, hope your day is going good. Mine isn't, but that's okay."

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I'll tell you at lunch. Let's go!" She got up and we left the guardhouse to go into town. I convinced them to eat at my favorite place and we all got a table. I sat down, purposely avoided ordering that disgusting pie dad liked so much, and got my food.

"So what's the matter?" asked Lucina once we were eating. I shrugged.

"Dad's been really annoyed all day. I'm trying not to let it bother me, but it's still getting to me a little. And I know he's really stressed out, but he won't even let me go see mom. And I want to be there for her. And Inigo was flirting with me a bunch yesterday but then he actually asked me to dinner and I'm not sure whether he's serious or if he's just being him. And I'm not sure if I want to eat with him anyway. And I still can't remember anything about mom even though I smashed my head against a wall for like three hours." I realized I was just going on and on complaining, so I stopped.

"You've got that much on your mind?" she said. I nodded.

"Yeah. I'm trying not to let it get me down, but I think it's all just piling up and it's finally getting to be too much."

"I think your mother needs a relatively quiet room. They wouldn't let us in either," Lucina said.

"Yeah, it was really mean. They said I would be too loud. Can you believe that?" said Cynthia.

"Yes," I said. She looked hurt.

"That's...that's so..." she sighed. "...fair. But really, I don't think it's personal. And do you really want to be in there? Do you really want to see...you know..."

"I want to be with my parents," I said a little too forcefully.

"But think about what you'll have to see if you're in there with them all day." She shuddered. "I would never be able to do that."

"I know it's awkward, but I still want to be there! Mom sounded like she was in so much pain..."

"And Robin and the nurses are with her," said Lucina. "She's going to be fine. You'll be able to see her later."

"But I want to see her now." I needed to be there with her. Even if it would be super awkward for me.

"The room is already crowded as it is. I'm sure they'll let you in as soon as it's possible," Lucina said.

"I guess." I played with my food a little and didn't say anything else. I tried eating it, but I was so stressed out by everything that I didn't really have an appetite. But I forced myself to eat anyway. Stressed or not, no appetite or not, I needed to eat or I'd be hungry. And I was still growing. I hoped. Probably. I was just, you know, a dragon. It would take me longer. Probably.

"Do you reeeeeeally care that Inigo was flirting with you?" asked Cynthia. She was obviously trying to take my mind off my parents, which I appreciated.

"I mean he's kinda cute," I said. "And it's funny when he tries to flirt with girls and gets shot down."

"Yeah, but can you really trust him to stop even if you got together?" she asked.

"I don't know if I'd care. It'd probably be pretty funny even then. But still, I don't know. I'd like to be sure the guy only liked me. And he'd have be okay with, you know, the aging thing."

"Oh, so does that mean you're going to live for thousands of years?" asked Lucina. I shrugged.

"That's what mom thinks. I mean I've got the ears and I can turn into a dragon, so I'm probably gonna live as long as one." Lucina made a weird expression like she thought of some time that someone put a frog down her pants. Aunt Lissa probably had at one point. Maybe that's what she was thinking of.

"Speaking of your mother..." she said and her voice trailed off.

"What about her?" I said.

"I don't know if you want to hear this, but...the first thing Inigo did when he joined us after we met him was...to ask your mother to dinner." I felt the color drain out of my face and then come back with reinforcements a couple seconds later.

"Are...are you kidding me?" She shook her head. I should have known. Lucina wouldn't be able to kid someone if she actually had a baby goat to hand them. Wait...did that even make sense? They were called kids, but...would giving someone a baby goat be kidding them? Would you have to like, hit them with the baby goat?

"No. I was nearby with your fa...with Robin. He spent several minutes trying to get her to have tea with him. It didn't work especially well."

"He really is shameless, isn't he?" I said. "I mean, mom's 3,000 years old. She has to have heard every line possible by now."

"Whatever your dad said worked," said Cynthia.

"I don't think dad tried to feed her any lines. Mom said he was always just really nice and this one time he got hit in the stomach with an ax."

"He did. I was there," said Lucina. "He protected her from it while she was meditating."

"Ah, well coming to her rescue would work," said Cynthia. "No better way to get someone to like you than to be their hero!"

"Is that why you're always trying to get Gerome to tell you what would make you seem more heroic?" I said. She turned bright red.

"I—but—that's not—" she sputtered.

"You know I can already tell, right?" I said. "My dad can read people like books. I got it from him. And it's written all over your face. Like, all the time."

"...Did you say you hit your head against a wall for a few hours?" Lucina asked. She probably wasn't trying to save Cynthia from getting more embarrassed. She had also probably just realized that I had said that.

"Yep! Thought it might jog my memory of mom if I tried doing it while I thought about her. Didn't work. Did make my head sore though. Maybe I was a little dizzy for a while. I'm fine now. Had lunch."

"Why would you think that would work?" she asked.

"I didn't! I just hadn't tried it before. Thought maybe it could help. Not gonna try it again though. Honestly even if I don't remember mom that's okay. I get to make lots of new memories with her for, you know, ever. I hope."

"You know I've been wondering about that," said Cynthia. "Won't it get lonely? Living for that long?" I shrugged.

"Mom says it can, but there's always people around to make friends with and now she's got me. And they might have more kids. And dad keeps swearing he's gonna live forever too, so hopefully we'll all have each other."

"But then you have to outlive everyone you know. Your mom always seems so sad about it," she said.

"I know," I said. "But she says that if she didn't live this long she wouldn't have met dad, so I think she's okay with it. And like I said, if we all have each other then we all have each other. It'll probably be fine. Even if I really like you guys." I mean I really did like them, but if I was going to live as long as mom and hopefully dad then I needed to get used to the idea that regular people weren't going to be around all that long. But I could live with that as long as I had friends and family around me.

"Well I guess that's true..." she said. "But I don't know if I could ever do that."

"Me neither, but I'm trying to keep a positive attitude about it," I said. "It's better than getting all mopey, right?"

"That's one way to look at it," said Lucina, "and I guess I can't argue your logic. But I think I'm with Cindy. I don't know if I could take it."

"This conversation is getting really depressing, you guys," I said. I tried to make it sound like I was joking, but I wasn't sure if I was. It really was getting depressing and I didn't want to start making myself all sad, especially not today. But this conversation was making me get stuck on the fact that I was probably going to outlive everybody I knew and I was already getting sad about it. They'd be around a while yet. I didn't need to get so down.

"You're right," said Lucina. "Let's talk about happier things. Have you heard about Owain and Kjelle? Apparently they're getting serious now."

"I can't believe Owain could get serious about anything," I said.

"Oh come on, he's serious about naming things," said Cynthia.

"But...Kjelle? They're so different. She's so humorless and he's, you know, him."

"Oh, he can be serious when he needs to be," said Lucina. "And behind his words he truly wants to become stronger and protect the innocent. I think they'll be good for each other. They'll spur each other on to new heights." I shrugged.

"I hope you're right," I said. We kept talking like that for a while about our friends and then we moved on to what we were all planning once all the rebuilding was done and then we ended up talking about what we were going to do that afternoon once we left. The two of them had plans and they invited me along but I decided I wanted to go back to the castle. I needed to see mom and dad eventually. I hoped dad was at least in a better mood.

Once we'd finished eating we said our goodbyes and I started back towards the castle while they went wherever it was they were going to go. It was a nice day, not too hot yet, but not cold anymore either. My favorite kind of weather. I ended up getting distracted by it and wandering a little ways out of the city without realizing what had happened. I saw Yarne running around for a bit but I decided to leave him alone. I still felt a little bad about teasing him the last time I'd seen him, but I wasn't ready to apologize for it yet. I would. Eventually.

I ended up heading back into town but I didn't really see anyone I knew. It was a pretty busy day in the market and it was too loud for me to talk to anyone anyway. Anna had her stand open and I thought about going to visit, but then I remembered that she was still huffy about the whole gemstone thing and she'd probably try to get me to sell it to her. As if I was going to do that. Mom loved that necklace way too much for me to even ask about it. And I'd done too much to help dad get it in the first place. And also it made her happy and I wanted her to be happy. She was my mom.

When I got back to the castle grounds I saw that Kjelle was out training, and she was even with Owain. How weird. I really couldn't imagine the two of them together. I bet dad would've noticed it. He probably knew them well enough to figure it out.

"Ah, Morgan, how delightful to see you again," I heard Inigo say from the other direction. I turned to look at him and he was smiling. I liked his smile, except it always looked so fake. He'd probably look better if it was more real.

"Hey," I said. "Weird seeing you at the castle."

"Yes, well, perhaps I was here looking for you. Today is an important day for you, after all. I thought we could have dinner together. Or perhaps tea this evening."

"Or maybe you were just here to flirt with the handmaids," I said. "How many of them rejected you before you got to me?"

"Don't be absurd, madame. You know I only have eyes for you."

"So all of them?" He grimaced.

"Only eight."

"Yeah, I thought so. And as amusing as it would be to see you fail a few more times, I don't really have time today. I'm busy with things that aren't eating with you." He looked all mopey.

"You wound me, milady. I wished to gaze upon your fair visage over a roman—"

"Yeah, yeah, romantic dinner, lovely face, blah blah blah. I said no." I was a little more blunt this time. Inigo wasn't a bad guy, but he never knew when to quit. It was admirable when he was fighting, but not so much when I turned him down three or four times. I still wasn't sure I wanted to eat with him. I wasn't really sure how I felt about him.

"Oh, alright then. Maybe next time." He walked off and I kept going towards the castle. I got back and saw that most of the servants weren't anywhere in the hall, but that was probably because they were making dinner for Uncle Chrom and Aunt Sumia. And some of them were probably with mom and dad, too. It was time for me to get back to them. Maybe dad would finally let me in to see them.

I explored and got a little lost, but eventually I found the room where mom was. I didn't hear mom yelling in pain anymore, so I hoped that was a good thing. I did hear a little bit of crying though. I knocked on the door.

"Yes?" came dad's voice from the other side.

"It's Morgan," I said. I heard movement and then a few seconds later dad pushed the door open a crack.

"Morgan? Where have you been?" He didn't sound annoyed anymore, which was good. He sounded and looked worried.

"I went out for a walk and then I had lunch and then I got lost on my way back here," I said. He shook his head.

"Right. I'm sorry, you just disappeared and I got worried. I wanted to come looking for you, but..."

"I know, you had to stay with mom." He shook his head and stepped out into the hallway, then shut the door behind him. I looked inside, but I couldn't see her from where I was standing. It must have been a pretty big room.

"Morgan...I'm sorry I was so rude to you before," he said.

"Dad, I know how stressful today is. It's okay." He shook his head again.

"No, it's not. You didn't deserve that kind of attitude from me. No matter how stressed I am, it doesn't give me an excuse to take it out on you." I smiled up at him.

"I forgive you, dad," I said. I wasn't mad at him. I couldn't be. He smiled and I got all happy for a second.

"Thank you, Morgan." He ruffled my hair which made me laugh. That made him laugh too. When he'd finished he reached into one pocket. "Listen," he said, "don't think it's lost on me what today is. It really couldn't be, after what's gone on all day."

"Oh, how is...er...I guess how...am I?" He laughed again.

"You're fine. Perfectly healthy. And your mother is doing fine as well. She's probably been less stressed out than me, honestly."

"Great! Can I go see her now?" He shook his head.

"In a minute." He found whatever he was looking for in his pocket and pulled it out. He handed it to me. "Here. I want you to have this." I took it from him. It was a slightly battered book.

"Dad...isn't this your favorite strategy book? I can't take this."

"It is," he said. "It's my personal copy, with all my notes and comments. And yes, you can. It's yours now." I jumped forward and threw my arms around him.

"Thanks so much dad," I said into his shirt. "Thank you. I love you so much." He patted my head.

"I love you too, Morgan." Once he was done patting my head he hugged me back. It was a good thing dad was so much bigger than me. I didn't even come up to his chin and his shoulders were a lot wider than mine, since I'd apparently gotten mine from mom. It meant that when he hugged me I was so hidden in his arms that everything felt like it was the way it should be. No one could hurt me, because I was protected. Nothing else mattered. It didn't matter that I was going to live a really long time. It didn't matter whether or not I liked Inigo or whether or not my head hurt or whether I would be sad to lose friends or anything at all. Dad was hugging me. Life was good.

"You're not gonna make me leave or anything, right? Now that, you know..." He had already told me before that he wouldn't, but I still had to ask.

"Never," he said. "You're my daughter. Nothing will ever change that."

"Okay. Good."

"Your mother has something for you too, you know."

"Do you know what it is?" I felt him laugh, which made me giggle a little.

"Of course I do. But I'm not telling you yet. Let's go see her and she can give it to you herself." He let go of me and opened the door. He let me in and I walked in to see mom lying on a bed. She looked a little sweaty and tired, but she was still mom and I was still glad to see her. She was smiling down at...well, at me. When I reached the side of her bed she went from looking at me to looking at...at me. Grandma, this was confusing.

"Morgan, I'm so glad to see you," she said. She was too preoccupied for me to hug her, so instead I sat next to her and held her free hand.

"Hi mom," I said. "How are you feeling?"

"As good as can be expected," she said. "I'm sorry you were not allowed in here. It was far too crowded by attendants."

"I wanted to be in here," I said. "You sounded like you were in so much pain." She smiled.

"I have felt worse," she said. "And your father was here. I think he was more worried than I was." I almost wanted to laugh at how much alike they thought now. "No matter how much I assured him that I was alright, he continued to fret over me."

"That's dad for you," I said as I smiled up at him.

"Oh! I nearly forgot," she said as she let go of my hand. She reached up to her hair and gently removed the ornament she always wore. She held it out to me. "This is for you, dear." I took it from her.

"Are you sure about this? Haven't you had this for like, ever?" She laughed gently.

"Perhaps not that long, but it has been ages," she said. "It is yours now." I looked back up at her. She looked so odd without it.

"Don't worry," dad said from above me, "I'll get her a new one. It'll match her necklace." He must have noticed my expression. Of course he had. That was dad. I put the ornament in my hair the same way mom always did.

"You look beautiful, dear," she said. Dad must have known again exactly what I wanted to do, because he bent down and took little baby Morgan from mom so I could lean forward and hug her.

"Thanks so much, mom. I love you."

"I love you too, with all my heart," she said as she gently hugged me back. Maybe mom wasn't as strong as dad and maybe her hugs weren't so firm and maybe this one was weaker than usual because she was so tired, but they were just as warm and loving and they still made all my troubles melt away.

"Morgan," dad said. I looked up at him and he was smiling at me. Then he looked down at the baby. "And you too, Morgan." He kissed her forehead lightly then looked back to me.

"Yeah dad?"

"Happy birthday."

 **A/N: I mean come on, I had to.**


	3. The Vessel's Birthday

I woke up in the morning to find my bed empty. That meant that, not only had Tiki woken up before me, she had gotten out of bed without waking me up or giving me a good morning kiss or anything she would normally do.

I could have been worried to find that out, but I wasn't. Today was a special day, which meant she probably had a special reason for not being here. I pulled the covers off the bed, got some clothes out of my chest, and got dressed. I sometimes felt odd to be waking up naked, but it wasn't like I was complaining.

Before I went downstairs I picked up my clothes from the night before which were, as usual, strewn around the room. Tiki's dress was nowhere to be found. Damn. If she was actually dressed it meant she wasn't even in the house. I'd hoped to see her before I went out for the day, but I still thought I would trust that she had a good reason.

I went downstairs to the dining room to see if there was any indication of where she had gone. She wasn't there, but on the table was a plate of food with a note next to it. The note wasn't elaborate and the handwriting was crude since her writing ability was still limited, but it said all she intended it to say.

" _I love you. -Tiki"_

It was her favorite thing to write. I had a small collection of notes from her that all carried the same message. In each one I could see the slow development of her writing skill. It made me so happy to compare the old ones to the newer ones because it let me see how much she was improving. She always thanked me for being the one to teach her, but this was its own reward. To see her get better and to see her use her new skill to convey her feelings.

I folded the note and put it in my pocket. Whether or not it was a message I heard from her dozens of times a day, I still decided I was going to cherish it like I did all the others. I took the fork she had left, sat down, and started eating. It was just some eggs and cheese, but the eggs were still warm and I could taste how much care she had put into making them.

Neither of us were especially skilled cooks, but we had been learning together and she had found that she enjoyed making food for me. Someone, I assumed it was Lissa, had told her that the way to my heart was through my stomach, so she said she wanted to learn to make all my favorite things. I had told her that she already had my heart so she didn't need to worry about it, but she insisted. I didn't contest her. Why should I? It made me happy that she did it.

Once I'd finished eating my breakfast I pulled on my shoes and walked out into the summer morning. Our house was further away from the center of Ylisstol than our old house had been, but both of us were happy with that. It gave us more privacy and meant that people had to come further to bother us. It also meant that we had less chance of being...overheard, which was a positive. Tiki was...not quiet.

It took me around fifteen minutes to reach the center of the city. I wasn't walking particularly quickly. I had nowhere to be today. It was my day off so I decided to take it easy. I'd probably see Morgan later, but it was probable she would be busy. That was fine. She was an adult and she could do what she wanted. She was growing into such a fine woman that I knew I had no reason to be worried.

Ylisstol was busy. It was a beautiful summer day so there was plenty of bustle in the town square. People going to and fro, doing their shopping at the market or meeting friends or whatever it was they felt the need to do. I was so glad to see that everyone was doing so well. Ylisstol had been almost entirely rebuilt. Normality was finally being restored to the country and hopefully the world. I hadn't been able to leave the country much because I was so busy, but I had been getting reports and they were mostly positive. People were coming together to put their lives back together, and it even turned out that our seemingly endless fights against bandits in Valm had made the entire continent much safer.

I reached the market in the center of the city and decided to stop in at Anna's shop. I thought it was possible that Tiki was there so I hoped I might be able to surprise her. She had been working there whenever she could. Anna paid her well on the idea that having Naga's Voice working her shop brought in extra sales. It probably did, although Tiki told me that Anna still tried to get her to sell her necklace every now and then.

The tent was wide open so I walked right in. To my slight disappointment I saw the red-haired form of Anna at the counter instead of my wife. She grinned at me as I approached the counter.

"Morning Robin! Nice to see you in today. You need anything? We just got a shipment of books if you want to look at them."

"I was actually wondering if Tiki was here. I haven't seen her yet today." Anna shook her head.

"No, sorry. I gave her the day off. I know it's a special day so I thought I'd let her off the hook." I raised an eyebrow.

"I'm surprised," I said. "That's awfully generous of you." She pouted.

"Oh come on, Robin, I'm not heartless. I know what today is. She hasn't stopped talking about it for weeks. Oh! Speaking of which, if you pick something out I'll even give a discount!" Her winning smile returned as she went right back to being the smooth-talking saleswoman I knew and...liked well enough.

"Have to pass," I said. "No money to spare today. Gonna go look for my wife." I expected her to shoo me out, but to my surprise she kept her smile.

"Oh well. Maybe next time. It was nice to see you!" I turned to go but she called out to me as I reached the entrance. "Oh! Robin!" I turned around. "Would you like to get together for dinner some day? Both of you?" I arched a brow at her again.

"What, do you have some new project you want me to sponsor? You know the Shepherds' coffers are tight right now." Her smile became a frown.

"Give me a break, Robin, I'm trying to be nice. I want to have dinner with you two because you're my friends. You...do know that I consider you two my friends, right?" I knew that Anna was a good actor, but she seemed to be genuine this time around. Even so, I decided to rib her a little.

"I thought we were just your best customers," I said lightly. Her frown deepened and I started to feel a little bad.

"I'm being serious," she said. "Look, I'm not pretending I don't love making money and I appreciate the business your wife brings in by being here, but I do...care about people, you know. Maybe not a lot of people, but I do care. I like both of you. You've both been...very good to me." I held up a conciliatory hand.

"I'm kidding around," I said. "I'd love to get together with you. I'll talk to Tiki about it and have her discuss it with you. Oh, it's on you though." She laughed, which I was glad to see.

"I guess I deserve that. No discounts if you come back today, though."

"Don't worry," I said as I turned to leave, "I won't."

"See you later!" she called out to me as I departed. So Tiki wasn't working. Sad. I had hoped to see her. But I would live. I trusted her. I knew she had to be planning something special, or she wouldn't have disappeared.

I left Anna's shop and started looking for somewhere to eat lunch. I didn't need it right away, but I figured I would scout something out before I actually went to go eat. My favorite restaurant was unfortunately packed to the walls, so I had to eliminate that as a possibility. I kept looking for a while and found a small restaurant on a side street near the south end of the main square. It looked homey enough, so I decided it would be where I went to eat. I only wished I had someone to go with.

My walking took me to the city gates where construction had recently been completed. It had taken months to put all the walls back together after constant Risen attacks, but the talented builders of Ylisse had finally done it. I remembered it had taken a lot of coordinated effort to get the stone transported and put into place. A storm had undone a good deal of work as well, but perseverance paid off in the end. The completion of the work had done wonders to improve the morale of the people. The walls were safe. The city was safe.

The world was safe.

It had been quite a while, but it still felt odd to think about. The world was safe. I didn't have a war to fight. I was finally free. I could take it slow and enjoy living life married to the most wonderful woman alive.

Or at least I could if I knew where she was.

I wasn't getting annoyed. I wasn't getting worried. I was getting lonely. I missed my wife. But it was alright, I knew she had to be planning something suitably impressive.

Before I knew it the morning was over and I was getting hungry again. I walked back to the city square and found the small restaurant. As I did I heard a voice call out to me.

"Uncle Robin! Wait!" I turned and barely had time to register Cynthia before she leapt forward and tackled me. It took all my concentration to stay upright. I gave her the hug she was looking for. It was nice to see her. Her duties as a trainee kept her busy, especially since the pegasus knights were being deployed all over the continent. I didn't get to see her as much as I wanted to.

"Hi Cindy," I said happily. She had eventually insisted on being called Cindy instead of Cynthia once she had determined we were good enough friends. It didn't take long, but I didn't mind. She was a sweet girl, if a bit overenthusiastic. "How are you?"

"I'm doing great! I heard people had seen you around here and I thought I'd come say hi since I won't be in the city for too long before I need to go out again and I haven't seen you in a while so it's really great to see you Uncle Robin how are you doing?"

"I'm glad to hear you're doing well," I said. "And I'm glad to see you back in town. I've missed you. Morgan has too."

"Yeah, I saw Morgan today already. I was glad to see her too, but she flew out to see me recently. I haven't seen you in forever!"

"I know," I said, "but we're blocking the door to this restaurant. Why don't you join me for lunch? My treat." She gave me an excited squeeze and tried to lift me off the ground. It was mildly successful. I felt myself go up maybe half an inch. Cynthia was smaller than me and probably a lot lighter too, but she had the kind of hidden strength that came from constant training.

"Don't be silly!" She said as she let go of me so we could go inside. "I can't let you pay for this!"

"Oh fine," I said. I knew there was no dissuading her once she'd come to a decision. Better to go along with it. And I was happy to see her. She was always good company. We sat at our table and ordered our lunch. She insisted, repeatedly, that I was to 'order whatever you want and let me worry about it, Uncle Robin!' but I wasn't hungry enough to get anything big. She was. She got two steaks.

I smiled as I watched her tear through them. I was glad she was here. I was glad she had decided to stay behind. I liked Cynthia, even if she could be a little on the louder side.

"You look happy," she said between mouthfuls.

"I am," I said. "Life is back to normal and the world is safe. And you came for a visit." She grinned at me and I saw some meat stuck between her teeth. It was kind of cute.

"Thanks Uncle Robin!" she said through a mouthful of steak. "I guess if you get this excited I'll have to come visit more often!"

"You do," I said. "Which reminds me, how's Gerome? I don't think he's visited once." She frowned slightly.

"Yeah, he still isn't sure about being around everyone. He goes to see his parents though. I think he's finally trying to connect with them. He wants to move to Wyvern Valley."

"Do you?" She shrugged.

"Honestly it doesn't matter much to me. I'm happy he finally noticed me. I'll go wherever he does."

"As long as you're happy," I said. "Make sure he treats you right."

"He will. He's a good guy, even if he can be a little distant. Honestly he kind of reminds of you, Uncle Robin." I laughed at that.

"Don't tell me that," I said. "I already went through this with your sister. Don't need to get it from you too." That got her laughing which drew the attention of the other patrons. I didn't care. Life was good.

"I knew Lucy liked you," she said, "but I never had the heart to tell her she didn't have a chance. I probably should have. Oh well! It worked out in the end, right?"

"It did," I said. "She probably talks to me more now than she did then."

"Well she's not embarrassed anymore! It's too bad for her, though. Hey, didn't that same kind of thing happen to Aunt Cordy with dad?" I gave a short laugh. I had nearly forgotten about it, it had been so long.

"You know, it did," I said. "Funny how things work out."

"Yep!" She went back to eating and we finished the rest of our meal in silence. She insisted on paying out of her wages as a gift to me, so I didn't contest her. We walked out into the summer afternoon. Cynthia looked like she was going to start bouncing off the nearest walls.

"Okay, what is it?" I said. She almost jumped out of her skin.

"Oh...gods, I can't take it anymore," she said. "I've been stalling you. I ran into—actually ran into, by the way—Aunt Tiki earlier today at the castle and she told me that she wanted me to make sure you were busy until at least the afternoon and then once it was time I was supposed to tell you to go to dad's private study to meet with him but it's really her waiting for you and don't tell her I told you or she's gonna be upset please please please don't tell her I told you." She ran out of breath. I laughed and patted her on the shoulder.

"I won't tell, I promise," I said. She visibly relaxed.

"Good! Thanks Uncle Robin! Do you want me to walk with you back to the castle?"

"Sure," I said.

"Great!" We started towards the castle. I had to speed up my pace to keep up with Cynthia, but I didn't mind. She was good company. She talked to me about everything she had seen on her travels with the pegasus knights. Then she talked to me about her life living with Gerome and how she'd finally gotten him to take off his mask on a regular basis. She told me about what it was like seeing her own younger self start to grow up and how she was going to be her own big sister. She talked about anything and everything she could think of, which was fine with me. I was glad we were friends. It meant she had decided to stay here with her family instead of leaving.

We reached the castle and she led me towards Chrom's study as if I didn't know the entire layout of the castle inside and out. Once we arrived she very loudly say goodbye to me and told me to have a nice day and that she was ever so happy to see me, then she gave me a tight hug and bounced away. It was, all in all, probably her best acting performance. I pushed open the door of the study. It was, on first glance, empty. I sat down in Chrom's chair and waited. Not two minutes passed before the door opened and I was treated to the sight of my beautiful wife. She smiled at me and, without a word, sat in my lap. Then she greeted me. She didn't use words to do it, but she still made ample use of her tongue.

"Beloved," she said in a low voice. It gave me goosebumps. It always did when she talked like that. Her voice was practically smoldering with desire.

"Darling," I said in response. I decided her greeting hadn't been sufficient, so I made her do it over.

"We...cannot go too far," she said, panting, "lest we...do not leave this room."

"I don't mind if you don't," I said.

"No," she said, "we must go. I have a...surprise for you." I imagined she must have. She was wearing her robes, which meant she must have had something special on underneath them. There was no way she had thought they were the proper attire for a hot midsummer's day.

"I...see," I said. "Then you'd better lead on." She stood and offered her hand. I took it and she led me out of the study. On the way she picked up what was clearly a basket of food and held it in her other hand. She didn't explain, so I didn't ask. I decided to with it. We got into the courtyard and she handed me the basket. She grinned at me and stepped back.

"You will have to...ride me," she said in that same smoldering voice.

"We're in public," I said. She laughed and I almost immediately disregarded that fact myself. She shifted forms and I climbed on her back. She took off and started flying east. I held on tight while keeping the basket as steady as I could. She didn't fly especially fast, so it was simple.

After maybe an hour we reached whatever her destination was, because she started to descend. I looked down and saw that we were headed towards a gap in the cliffs at the edge of the continent. I had never seen it before. We kept descending and she flew into the gap. The ground was a few hundred feet below the edges of the cliffs. She landed and I looked around.

It was a completely untouched inlet beach. There was nothing but perfectly pristine sand all around us and an uninterrupted view of the sea to the east. It was the most beautiful place I had ever seen in my life. I climbed down and couldn't help but walk around to inspect it.

"Do you like it?" she said from behind me as I started out at the water.

"It's...absolutely gorgeous," I said. I turned to face her. "How did you find this place?"

"I spent most of the morning flying around looking for a suitable location for our dinner. I wanted to find somewhere special. I believe I have succeeded."

"You certainly did," I said. I walked over to her and showed my appreciation. "Thank you, dearest. This view is amazing." She rested against me and I hugged her gently.

"I'm...glad you like it," she said. "Are you hungry? I have packed us a dinner of all your favorite foods."

"I could eat," I said, "but I'd rather sit with you and enjoy this place for a while. If you don't mind." She gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"That would be heaven," she said. She reached into the basket and pulled out a blanket. I helped her lay it out and we sat down. She rested her head on my shoulder and I put my arm around her.

"Thank you for this," I said.

"You are welcome. I love you so very much."

"I love you too," I said. We sat in silence and watched the waves lap against the shore of our private beach. I lost track of how long we sat there. I didn't care. We were alone. No one could disturb us because no one knew where we were. We had the rest of the day to ourselves.

After a while—maybe hours, maybe not—I felt my stomach rumble. She noticed it too and she reached into the basket without letting me see what she was doing. She started pulling out food and setting it out between us. It was, in fact, all my favorite foods. It looked incredible and my mouth started to water at the sight.

"I hope you are pleased, beloved," she said once she had finished putting everything out. "Oh, but I should tell you I did not make this alone. I asked Cherche for her assistance. She sends her greetings and insisted I tell you that baby Gerome has recently taken his first steps."

"I'll have to send her a message in return," I said before leaning forward to give Tiki a kiss. "Thank you for all of this." She blushed even though she had no real reason to.

"You are welcome, my darling." She giggled a little. "Do you remember our first dinner? When you asked Cherche to make us food?" I took her hand in mine.

"Do you think I'll ever forget it?"

"Of course not," she said. "But now let us enjoy this wonderful meal." We both dug in and, before we knew it, had eaten everything in front of us. It was as good as Cherche's cooking always was. I made a mental note to send her a personal note of thanks.

Once we were done Tiki cleared the empty dishes away and cuddled up to me. We both laid back and looked at the late afternoon sky. It wasn't especially cloudy, so we had a good view as the sky turned from blue to a summery purple with the setting sun.

"Is it not beautiful?" she said. "This world you saved?"

"It is," I said, "but don't forget that you helped."

"Mm." We stayed there in a comfortable silence for a few minutes until Tiki seemed to realize something. "Ah, I have something I need to show you before it becomes too dark to see," she said. She stood up and I followed suit.

"Oh?"

"Your gift. Wait here." I did as instructed. She stepped over to the basket and bent down to reach inside it. The way she positioned herself made it impossible for me to see what she was doing. I heard rustling, then the clinking of glass against wood. She stood up and held out one hand to her side. There was a bottle of wine in that hand. She held out the other hand. That one had two cups in it. "It is your favorite variety," she said. "I thought we might share it."

"I like the sound of that," I said, "but why hide what you're doing?" I was asking because that was what I was supposed to do. I knew what had to be the reason.

"Because," she said in that wonderfully familiar smoldering voice, "I wanted my outfit to surprise you." She turned around and I finally got to see the big secret. Her robes were open and I saw that she was wearing the swimsuit she knew I loved so much.

Except she was only wearing the bottom piece.

With a hungry grin on her face, she stepped over to me and put her arms around my neck. I felt the bottle bump against my back. I had no idea how it was still cold, but it was, just the way I liked it. It was a good thing too, because I was starting to get hot under the collar. So hot, in fact, that I knew I would need to take my shirt off in the next few minutes. Probably my pants, too. She looked up at me and I could see the fire in her eyes already. She leaned in and nibbled on my ear before whispering three little words to me.

"Happy birthday, Robin."

 **A/N: I hemmed and hawed for a while about what to make Robin's birthday. I thought about making it the day I published the first chapter or the day I started writing this thing. I thought about maybe picking a holiday or something, or finding the date of maybe some famous strategist.**

 **In the end, I decided I was going to be a little self-indulgent.**

 **Today is Robin's birthday because today is my birthday.**


	4. What If?

I opened my eyes and saw the sun high in the sky above me. It, as always, shone brightly, entirely unconcerned with the fact that the human race had just fought for its very survival below it. I looked around as best as I could and saw that no one else had yet recovered from the battle that had taken place. I was a dragon, so that was likely the reason. I hoped they would recover soon, but I had more pressing issues at hand.

With great effort I pushed myself up to a sitting position. In front of me I saw the grassy plains of the island and the sea in the distance. They were a beautiful sight, and even more so now that they were in a world at peace, but I could not focus on them.

Grima had been defeated. That much was clear, else I would not have found myself on the ground. I had known we would emerge victorious. Even though I had been struck down by his attack I had the utmost faith in Chrom and in my beloved. I knew they would succeed, and they had.

I turned around and I saw two men in the distance. One of them was Chrom. He was flat on his face and appeared to be stirring, though it was impossible to tell from where I sat. The other was Robin. He was on his back and he was not moving at all. I found that I could not stand, so I began to crawl slowly towards him. It felt as though he was on the other side of the world. I started to call out to him as I drew closer. He did not answer me.

After what felt like an eternity I finally reached him. My heart sank. He had a grievous wound in his stomach. He was bleeding and it appeared he would not live. I began to call desperately for a healer. I prayed he would live long enough for help to arrive. I shouted and shouted, but no help came. Chrom did not even stir next to me.

"T-Tiki?" My heart threatened to sink even further. It was Robin speaking, but something was wrong. His voice was weak and...somehow hollow. As if he was not truly present and was only speaking from a great distance.

"Robin!" I took his hand. Something about it was wrong as well. It was too rough. Too cold.

"I-is that...r-really you?"

"Of course it is," I said, "for who else would it be?"

"You...I c-can't...believe...you're...still alive..."

"Of course I am. You saved the world. You have done it. The Fell Dragon is sealed away." He frowned, which clearly took him a great amount of effort.

"You don't...I'm not...that...Robin." I blinked in surprise and reflexively let go of his hand.

"Wh-what?"

"I'm...the other...the evil one..." His eyes filled with tears. "So...sorry..." I looked around. He was the only Robin here. And yet he claimed to be the fallen Robin. The evidence was right in front of me. His hands. His voice. His injury. The avatar had not used a sword, and his wound was clearly from a sword. This was the other Robin.

But then...where was my Robin?

No, it could not be. He had promised me. He had to be somewhere nearby. I had simply not seen him.

"Tiki..." I was brought back to myself at the other Robin's words. "So...sorry...for every...thing. All...my fault."

"It was the Fell Dragon, not you," I said. I should have hated this evil Robin, and yet I found that I could not bring myself to do so. He had fallen, yes. He, or at least his body, had caused untold pain. And yet, he was still Robin. He clearly knew me. It was likely that he had given himself to Grima for immortality for my sake. He assumed I was dead. It was probable that, in his world, I had fallen when I had seen what happened to him.

"No...all...my fault...sorry." He closed his eyes and I saw his breathing slow. There was nothing I could do for him. I took his hand again and I heard him sigh. Moments later his breathing stopped. He was gone. I looked around again and panic began to set in. Where was he? Why could I not see him? I felt tears begin to form in my eyes as I became more desperate.

"Robin! Robin, where are you? Robin!" I called his name over and over, but there was no response. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and noticed that Chrom was beginning to wake. I crawled over to him as he opened his eyes and looked up at me.

"Lady Tiki," he said in a tired voice, "I'm glad to see you're alive." I took hold of his arm and pulled him to a sitting position.

"Chrom...where is Robin?" He looked around but did not answer. I gripped him more tightly. "Where is Robin?" I asked again. It was becoming difficult to speak.

"Tiki..." he said. His voice told me everything. I took hold of his shoulders as tears flowed down my face.

"Where is Robin?!" I shouted. "Where is he?!" I already knew. It was written all over his face.

"Tiki...I'm...I'm so sorry." His voice was gentle, but it only made me angrier.

"You said you would protect him! You told me you would make sure he lived! Where is Robin?!" I was nearly screaming. He looked away and I saw him blink away tears of his own. I did not care. He had betrayed me. He had promised me that Robin would remain alive, and he had betrayed me. He had allowed Robin to destroy Grima at the cost of his own life. He had betrayed me.

I wanted to kill him.

"Mom!" I was brought back to myself by Morgan's voice. I heard her running behind me and moments later I felt her embrace me. I let go of Chrom and sank backwards against her. "Mom...where's...where's dad?"

"He...I'm sorry," said Chrom. "I'm so sorry."

"Wh-what? No...no he can't..."

"He...asked me to tell you...that...he loves you both. And that he was...was thinking of you...until...until..." He could not finish.

"He's not...he can't really be...mom?" I turned around and saw that Morgan's eyes were wet. I threw my arms around her and pulled her into an embrace. She began to sob into my shoulder. He was...he was gone. He had...destroyed Grima. The world was safe. The world would be forever safe.

And all it had cost was his life.

Far away I heard the sounds of the others as they began to rouse. I felt Chrom place his hand on my shoulder. None of it mattered. My husband—my Robin—had been taken from me. He was gone. I could try to have faith that he would somehow return—somehow find his way back to me—but as my mother had said, the possibility was so remote that it was little more than a fool's hope. He was gone. All I had left was Morgan. I loved Morgan with all my heart, but she was not Robin. Never again would I share his bed. Never again would I feel his arms around me. Never again would I receive his tender kisses. Never again would I hear him tell me he loved me.

He was gone.

I heard someone approach. I did not open my eyes to see who it was. I heard voices, but I did not listen to them. I only barely recognized that the voice belonged to Lissa. I felt her hand against my back and then her voice was in my ear. It was gentle and filled with sorrow.

"Tiki, I'm so sorry." I could not answer her. All I could do was lean against my daughter and weep. She was all I had left. She was the only reminder that he had lived. That he had been real.

Which of the gods had chosen to do this to me? To give me hope that I might be allowed to live my life with the man I loved, only to snatch that hope away in the cruelest manner? Who had I displeased so greatly? What had I done? Why did it have to be him?

I heard voices around me, but I did not open my eyes. It was likely that my comrades had gathered and were beginning to realize what was happening. I did not care. So what if they all cared for him? They did not love him like I did. None of them had lost someone like I had.

"Tiki," said Lissa gently, "we should leave. It's...it's time to...to go home."

"Then...go," I said. Even those two short words were nearly impossible to say.

"You...really shouldn't...stay here," she said. It sounded as if she was having difficulty speaking as well.

"Leave," I said, "I...do not care. Leave this place."

"She's...right, mom," said Morgan. "We can't...we can't stay here forever."

"I do not care," I said. "Leave with them. I do not care."

"Mom..."

"Go!" I said more loudly. "Go and leave me behind! I do not care!" It did not matter if I left. I would never truly leave this island. I would never be whole again. I had given so much of myself to him, and he was gone. He was gone and he had taken that part of me with him. I...I had not even been allowed to say goodbye.

"Mom..." she sounded heartbroken, and not just for her father. I felt my face burn. She was my daughter. I had no right to speak to her in such a way.

"I...I am sorry," I said quietly. "I...should not say such things."

"I...understand, mom," she said. "I'm...oh, mom..." She held me more tightly and I heard her begin to sob again. The voices around me quieted and I heard the sounds of movement. I assumed they were leaving to return to the ship, though I never felt Lissa or Chrom remove their hands from my shoulders.

I did not know how long we remained in that position, I only knew that I was there long enough that my knees grew stiff and painful. I was forced to stand when it became too much to bear. I finally opened my eyes and looked around. The four of us were the only ones who remained. Someone had moved the body of the avatar as well, perhaps because they thought it would be too difficult for me to look at it.

"Go," I said to the others. "Return to the ship. I will follow soon." They did not contest me, not even Morgan. I watched them walk slowly away until they reached the bottom of the incline that led to the beach. Once they were gone I turned back to look at the shrine. I did not walk to it, but I still called out to my mother. She appeared above me.

"I...have no words of comfort for you," she said. "I have known your pain. There are no words I can speak to ease it."

"I know," I said flatly. "I am not looking for comfort. I want to know if you are happy. He has destroyed your eternal foe and now he is no longer with me. You have gotten everything you wanted, and I have gotten nothing. Are you satisfied?" My mother appeared troubled.

"No. Daughter, you may not believe me, but I wish for your happiness. I am not pleased at the way this has ended. I saw how happy you were with him. I wanted you to remain so."

"I do not believe you," I said, "for if you truly wished for him to remain alive you would have said so. You did not, so I can only conclude that you wished for him to die."

"Daughter, I—"

"I am leaving," I said over her. "You will never see me again." I turned and began to walk away.

"Is there no way to dissuade you?" I stopped, looked at the ground, and balled my hands into fists.

"...Return him to life." I continued walking and ignored her response. It did not matter to me that I was abdicating my duty. She had been the one to tell him that he could destroy Grima. She did not have to do so. She could have told him not to do it himself. She did not. She wanted him dead. She wanted him away from me. It was as much her fault as any other. If this was how she thought of me then she could find someone else to assume her role. I was not some child's toy for her to do with as she wished.

I reached the ship and saw that Morgan was waiting for me. She did not say anything, but she offered me her hand. I took it and we boarded. The captain cast off and Morgan led me below the deck and to the quartermaster's cabin. Seeing it brought a fresh wave of tears to my eyes as I remembered the first night I spent in it. I was not sure Morgan even realized what this room meant to me. She simply led me to the bed and embraced me. No one disturbed us for the entire journey.

* * *

Weeks passed as if in the blink of an eye. I busied myself with the efforts of rebuilding the damage wrought by the Fell Dragon's followers in an effort to distract myself. It failed. I often found that I would stop my work to shed more tears over the smallest reminders of the man I had lost. Many of them were things that should have not caused me pain, but they did.

The simplest things would bring him to mind. A word spoken that he particularly enjoyed using. A serving of a food we would normally share. The sight of a tree we had napped beneath. Even if ever I noticed the sort of bird that was his namesake it would bring his face into my mind and I would cry for him. Sometimes I would even cry out for him.

Nights were impossible. I would lie in bed and find myself unable to sleep. I would try to close my eyes and imagine that he was there, but it would only become worse. My bed—the bed we had so often shared—was too cold without him. I found that I simply could no longer sleep, though time seemed to pass quickly regardless.

Chrom continued to insist that he would return to us. Even Lissa would assure me that she knew he was still out there waiting for us to find him. I knew it was a fool's hope, and yet I often found myself wishing that it was true. I wanted him back. Even though we had been together for such a short time, I felt so empty without him. Day and night I ached for him. I wanted one more moment, just one. One more touch. One more kiss. One more word. I wanted him back.

A full year went by and still I could not sleep. My movements were slowed. My eyes were always heavy with fatigue. Many times I would simply not get out of bed as I desperately begged for sleep to take me. It never did. I began to join the search parties that were sent out to look for him. It was my last, desperate hope. All I wanted was to see him again.

One day I was with Chrom and Lissa on a search when my wish was finally fulfilled. We were searching in the field where they said he had first appeared to them. It was, by my count, exactly a year to the day since he had disappeared. I was lagging behind them because I was so tired when I heard Lissa call out. Chrom rushed ahead and I followed as quickly as I could. As I reached where they were standing I saw him and my heart leapt.

It was him. It was truly him.

"I see you're awake now," said Chrom.

"Hey there!" said Lissa. I kept moving forward, but it felt as though I was not getting any closer.

"There are better places for a nap than on the ground, you know," said Chrom. I saw him offer a hand. "Give me your hand." He helped Robin to his feet. "Welcome back." I felt an ache in my chest as I heard him speak.

"Thanks. Not sure how I got here," he said. I finally reached him.

"Robin!" I threw my arms around him and nearly knocked him to the ground. "Oh heavens above, Robin, I thought I would never see you again. Oh, Robin. Oh, my Robin. I can hardly believe you have returned to me."

"Oh! Umm...thank you," he said. Something was wrong. I let go of him to look at him and saw confusion in his expression. "Listen...you seem like a kind woman and all, and I definitely appricate the warm welcome, so I hope you'll forgive me for asking you this, but...who are you?" My heart sank and I felt tears forming.

"Do you...truly not remember me?" He frowned and shook his head.

"I'm sorry," he said, "you clearly know me so I wish I could say yes, but...I don't."

"Do you remember me?" asked Lissa. She sounded upset as well.

"No, sorry. I remember...running. I...was being chased." He was being evasive, but I knew the reason.

"A member of Grima's faithful tried to capture you and you killed him and ran away," I said. He blinked in surprise. It was likely that he had not said anything about it because he was trying to hide his past from them.

"That's...how did you know?"

"Because you told me," I said. I held up my left hand to show him the ring on my finger. "Robin, I...I am your betrothed. A year ago we fought and destroyed Grima and you...disappeared. I thought..." I lost my composure and threw my arms around him again. "Oh, my Robin, I thought you were dead." I began to weep into his shoulder. To my surprise, I felt him embrace me.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I wish I remembered you and I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm here now."

"In case you wanted to ask," said Lissa, "it's true. You two were so cute together and you did everything together and you have the cutest daughter and we're so happy you're back and...gods, Robin, I'm so glad you're alive."

"You seem like good people," he said, "so I...hope I can believe you. And hopefully I'll even get my memories back."

"You will," I said. "I know it."

"I hope so," he said, "but even if I don't it's okay."

"I know. You have returned to me. I will love you whether your memory returns or not."

"That...makes me very happy," he said. "I must be the luckiest man alive."

"Why would you say that?" I asked.

"Because," he said, "if what you're saying is true, I get to fall in love with you all over again."

* * *

In what felt like the twinkling of an eye sixty years had passed and I was sitting next to Robin as he rested in bed. He was smiling at me, though he looked tired and worn. It was not fair. He was not even a century old and he was so weak. He placed his hand on my cheek and I placed my hand on his. I felt myself start to cry.

"Don't...don't cry," he said. "You should...be happy."

"Oh, Robin..."

"You still look...so beautiful," he said. "You...shouldn't cry."

"Oh, beloved..." It was not fair. He was so young. We had been given so little time together.

"Be happy," he said. "That's all I want for you. Just...be happy."

"Do not leave me..."

"You have...our children." He coughed. His voice was becoming weaker. "I'll...be waiting for you. But please...don't cry." It was a request I could not fulfill. I closed my eyes and wept in earnest as I realized that I was about to lose him.

"Oh, Robin..."

"Oh, Tiki...Tiki...Tiki..." His voice suddenly became stronger and his hold on my cheek became more firm. "Tiki! Tiki, wake up!" My eyes snapped open and I saw Robin in front of me, as young as he ever was. It was difficult to see his features in the moonlight, but I could tell that he was worried.

"R-Robin?" I said in confusion.

"Tiki, what's wrong?" he asked. "You were crying in your sleep and you kept saying my name."

"Oh, beloved," I said as I hugged myself to him in desperation. "I...I had the most terrible nightmare." He began to kiss me gently. Though it had been less than one night, because of my dream if felt as though it had been years since he had done so.

"It's okay," he said, "it's okay. It was just a nightmare. I'm right here." There was so much love in his voice. It made me cry even more. He began to stroke my hair. "Shh. Oh, dearest, I'm so sorry. It's okay now." He held me to his bare chest as I wept. Thank the heavens it was a nightmare. He was here. He was young. Chrom had sealed Grima. We were in our marital home.

It took me several minutes to calm down. I knew that he would not care. He continued to hold me and whisper gentle reassurances to me. It made it even harder to regain my composure when I heard him speak. To know that I was so loved by this man who was holding me and who would continue to hold me for thousands of years was so unbelievably comforting.

"I...I dreamt that you were the one who killed Grima," I said in a somewhat shaky voice. "You...vanished. Then you returned to me with no memory. Then you grew old and you...you...oh, Robin..." I felt him kiss my forehead. He brought my face up to his and kissed my lips, then rested his forehead against mine.

"It's okay," he said. "It was just a nightmare. I'm right here and that isn't how it happened."

"I...I know. I'm so glad it was simply a dream. Please, Robin, I beg you...never leave me. I simply...could not bear it." He kissed me tenderly. In his kiss I felt every bit of the love I knew he had for me. He was truly here. I was loved. The most wonderful man to ever live had given his love to me and we would be together for thousands of years. It was only one kiss, but it was all I needed. I knew I was safe in his arms. He pulled me in closer against himself and smiled warmly.

"I'm not going anywhere."

 **A/N: What's this? A completely unironic "it was all a dream" ending?**

 **Yes. Yes it was. Because I have to hit all my cliches before I'm done with this particular canon.**

* * *

 **Read this only after you have read and fully formed your own opinion on the work above. I mean it. If you haven't decided how you fell about it yet, go back up and read it again so you can make your decision first, because I don't want what I'm about to write to color your opinion before you've formed it.  
**

 **Okay?**

 **Okay.**

 **A reviewer asked me to write an alternate ending where we see what happened if Robin sacrificed himself instead of the way it went down. Truth be told, I had an idea for how I would take it if that was the route I took, and this is a truncated version of that. I always planned for it to go the way I had it go, but I thought that I should at least have the alternate version outlined in my head.**

 **Obviously in the version where it's not Tiki's worst nightmare it's stretched out more and properly covers everything including an epilogue where they're reunited in the afterlife, but that's not what we got here, we got the abridged version.**

 **I don't like bittersweet endings.  
**


	5. The End

I always thought that dying was supposed to hurt. Especially when it involved having a sword through your gut. But as I looked down and verified that there was, in fact, a sword in my gut, all I could think was that it didn't hurt. It didn't feel like anything. I hadn't even felt it go in.

Then again, I hadn't actually been in control of my body until the sword was in there.

I had been in the dark. I didn't even know how long I had been in the dark. Time didn't have any meaning in there. Nothing did. I couldn't do anything in the dark except look and listen, and he hadn't even let me see outside unless he wanted to hurt me. I kept sinking into the void until he dragged me out to show me something, and it was always something unpleasant.

I had lost count of how many people he had forced me to watch him kill. The first one had been Chrom. I knew I would never forget that. How could I? It was my greatest failure. It was the moment I knew I had doomed the world through my own stupidity. Everything that happened after that was all because of me. Because I had listened to him. Because I had wanted eternal life.

Which was, I assumed, why he made me watch Tiki die next.

He didn't even have to do anything. I'd never forget seeing her. Seeing her react to me. Seeing her give in to her despair. Seeing her fall. I had made the worst choice possible for her sake, and it was all for nothing.

I remembered her rampage. How she destroyed the Dragon's Table and killed Virion before he could even react. How Kellam had given his life to get everyone out, and no one but Sully had even noticed. She had even killed Validar right there, but Grima didn't care. Validar was only ever a tool. His death meant nothing. She had flown away. I only ever saw her once more. We had tracked her down and lured her into a city. We forced the Shepherds to deal with her. We killed five of them, but not before…

" _R-Robin? Is...is that you?"_

" _It is."_ It hadn't been. It had been him cradling her as she lay dying. Using my face. My voice.

" _I...am...so sorry. This...is all...my fault."_

" _No. It was mine."_

" _You mustn't...blame...yourself..."_

" _Oh, I don't blame myself. You misunderstand. I'm happy it turned out like this. This is everything I ever wanted from you. You did it. You destroyed so much and killed so many. And now...now you're dead. Naga's daughter is finally dead. And good riddance to you."_ I remembered the look of despair on her face. He had let me see it. Let me understand the totality of my failure and the magnitude of what I had done. I wanted to scream out that it wasn't me talking. That it was him. That I loved her. That I was so sorry. But I couldn't. It wasn't my body anymore.

" _No..."_ It was her last word. And he had laughed. I retaliated the only way I could. I made him think about her all the time. I never let him take his mind off of her. I made him obsessed with her, and then I made him obsessed with me. It was all I could do.

But now he was gone. He was finally gone. I was finally free. I could...finally die.

Chrom pulled the sword out of me. That was when the pain came rushing in. It was agony. I couldn't think of anything that could be more painful than what I was feeling. My vision got dark and I knew I was about to black out and likely never wake up. It didn't matter. I deserved it.

Distantly I heard the sound of a heavy impact followed by a gasp of pain. I couldn't place what it was. It was too far away. There was a crashing sound and then the body below me shook as I felt him roar in pain. I felt myself start to fall. I thought it was death taking me, but then I realized that we were actually, physically falling. He was disappearing. He was being sealed away. It was over. It was really, truly over.

I was free.

I felt my body start to float. It was a sensation I hadn't experienced in a lifetime. Naga was transporting me. I had no idea why she was moving me when she should have been moving everyone else, but she was. It was possible she was bringing everyone else. I couldn't tell. I couldn't see anymore. My vision was too dark. I didn't have long, thank the gods. I had lived too long already.

I felt the ground underneath me and I saw a light above me. I couldn't focus on anything, but I knew it had to be the sun. The sun was shining. It was a beautiful day and I was finally free. Thank Naga. No one had to worry anymore. He was gone.

A voice was speaking from far away. I hadn't heard it is so long that I almost didn't recognize it. For a moment I thought I was dead, and then I realized that there was no way I would hear it in the afterlife. We weren't going to the same place. I was going to get punished like I deserved.

"Robin. Robin I beg you, wake up. Please. Wake up, my Robin. Please. Gods above, please, let him live. Robin. Robin. Robin…" I had to call out to her. I had to talk to her again. I had to...apologize.

"T-Tiki? Is th-that...you?" I couldn't see, but I knew it was. I would know her voice anywhere.

"I...I am here," she said. I could hardly believe my ears. It was really her. She was alive. Of course it was the her from this time, but it was still her. And she was asking for me. That meant she and I had found each other in this time too.

"I...I h-haven't heard your voice in s-s-so long," I said. My voice was thin and weak. "Since you...died. I'm...so...sorry. My f-fault. A-all of it." I started coughing and it felt like I was spitting up blood.

"Are you free of Grima's control?" she asked me. Thank the gods, but I was. She sounded...distant. I had to fight not to be upset. I knew that she didn't think of me like him. I wasn't him. I was...I was the man who destroyed the world. I was surprised she didn't sound more disgusted.

"Grima...finally...out of...my head," I said. I gave up trying to see and I closed my eyes. I felt tears forming, but I forced myself to speak. "Is...he alive?"

"Barely," she said. "He is clinging to life. I'm sorry, I need to get him some aid." Of course she did. He...he was still worth saving. He hadn't done what I had. I was dead anyway.

"I...can...help him," I said. There was a chance. I still had the Shadowgift. I didn't know how much power was left in me, but if I could share it with him it might counter the curses.

"How?" she said. "You are dying. What can you do?" I hoped that wasn't hatred I heard. It probably wasn't. She was probably just worried about him.

"Hit him with...curses," I said, "my fault. Need to...make up...give me...his hand."

"You are too far away and I cannot move him," she said. I decided to take a chance.

"Then...give me...yours..." It was possible I could send power through her and into him as long as she was willing. But she would be. For his sake if not mine. I felt her hand in mine and I felt myself crying even harder. It was really her. I'd know the feeling of her hand anywhere. It was really, truly her.

"Now what?" Now? Now I wanted her to never let go. To hold my hand until the end. To see me off. But I couldn't say that.

"Take...his," I said. "Think...of him. Will the power...through you." I gave her some time to picture him. She needed to form as clear of a portrait of him in her mind as possible. While I waited I did the same for her. I thought of the smile I hadn't seen in so long. I thought of the way we used to nap together. I thought of the softness of her hair when I ran my fingers through it. I thought of the feeling of her against me in the night. I thought of all the love we had shared even though we had only been given a few months. I thought of her crooked smile and her cute little nose and those deep green eyes of hers that matched her hair perfectly.

In short, I thought of Tiki.

I felt the power flow out of me and into her. It was taking my strength with it and I knew it would cost me my life, but still I kept pushing it out so that she could pass it to him. It was the last thing I would do, but I hoped it would somehow make up for at least some small part of what I had done.

"What was that?" I heard her ask from a great distance. I opened my mouth to answer, but very little sound came out.

"Gi...ft..." I said. It was barely above a whisper. "Took...from...Aver...sa..." She was another person I had failed. She had loved me. I had known she had loved me. Even when he had taken me over she had loved me, and I had made her give me power. I had made her give and give from her own essence until there was nothing left.

He had made me watch her die too.

" _Are you...pleased?"_

" _I am. You've done well, and served your purpose just as I needed you to do. I'll make good use of your gift."_

" _I'm...glad..."_ He had cradled her as she died, too. Cradled her and watched the life flow out of her. And he had been happy to see it. And he had given me control just for a moment. Just so I could apologize.

" _Aversa, no! Gods, no, what has he done to you?"_

" _...Ro...bin?"_

" _Gods, Aversa, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me."_ She hadn't been able to answer, but her elation turned to despair in her last moments. And then he put me back in the void.

"I do not understand," I heard Tiki say as I was brought back to myself, "but I thank you. For whatever it may be worth, I thank you." I felt the corners of my mouth turn up in a weak smile.

"Wel...come..." She had thanked me. She didn't hate me. I could die in peace. She didn't hate me.

"I forgive you," she said. It was the most blessed thing I could ever remember hearing.

"Thank...you..."I said. My stomach churned, which brought a fresh wave of agony. It was almost over. I had to ask her. I needed to hear it before I faded. I tried to speak, but I didn't think sound came out. Suddenly I felt a warmth near my face. I could tell it was her leaning in.

"What?" she asked. I gathered my last reserves of strength to ask her what I needed to ask her.

"Think...she's...wai...ting...for...me?" She couldn't be. I was damned. I would spent eternity alone and punished like I deserved. I felt her pat my hand.

"I pray she is," she said. I sighed and closed my eyes. It was the beset thing she could have said. I didn't try to speak again. The pain was fading away. I was so tired. So very tired. I relaxed my hold on her hand. The air left me and I didn't have the strength to breathe in any more.

I was so tired.

I opened my eyes and found that I was standing. The pain was gone from my stomach. I looked down and saw that everything was gone from my stomach, including my clothes. I was, in fact, naked. I looked up and glanced around. I couldn't tell where I was. The whole place was a dull gray color with no discernible objects or even outlines indicating that was was a room. It was like the void, but less cold and unforgiving.

Tentatively I took a step forward. There was no visible ground, but even so I didn't fall. Instead I just moved a couple of feet forward. I looked around again. Because there were no features I couldn't actually tell if I had moved or not. I tried again. Still no way to know if I was moving. On a whim, I tried calling out.

"Is...anyone there?"

"...Robin?" I couldn't believe my ears. Not only did I hear a voice behind me, it was a voice I recognized. Not only did I recognize it, it was the last voice I had expected I would hear on this side. I spun around and saw her. She smiled at me and I thought my heart would stop before I realized that I couldn't feel it beating.

"I...I can't believe it!" I said. I started running and I felt like I was underwater. I didn't care. For her sake I would have run to the ends of the world. She started towards me and opened her arms wide. After what felt like I eternity we reached each other and I threw my arms around her. I closed my eyes and smiled.

"Oh, Robin...I can hardly believe it myself. Oh, my Robin..."

"Oh...Tiki..."

"Robin?" Her voice was different. Closer. "Robin, what is it?" My eyes snapped back open and I saw that I was in the dark. I was, in fact, in bed. I also noticed that I was covered in sweat and I was hugging Tiki probably more tightly than was comfortable for her. I relaxed my hold on her, but she in turn hugged me closer. "Do not be afraid," she said. "You are not harming me. What troubles you? You were trembling and you sounded desperate."

"I'm sorry I woke you," I said. I felt her rub her cheek against my chest and reach a hand up to run her hand through my hair.

"I will always be here if you need it," she said. "Please, tell me what nightmare plagued you."

"I...I think I saw the other me die." That had to be what I had experienced. It felt too real to be just a regular nightmare.

"Truly? Did you see through his eyes?"

"I did," I said as I shivered. It had been agonizingly painful. "You...you were with him. It made him so happy."

"I was," she said. "Though it was difficult not to see him as pure evil. I reminded myself that he was as much a victim as any other."

"All he could think about were his regrets," I said. "He wanted to apologize to all of us, for everything."

"Despite everything, I think he was a good man. How could he not be?" She kissed my chest. "He was you." I ran a hand through her hair then kept going down her back. I had done that so many times, but no matter how many times I did it I was always reminded of just how soft her skin was. She was my everything. I wondered if I could make the same decision he had. Fortunately I'd never have to.

"I'm glad you comforted him," I said. "I...think he deserved some peace."

"I do as well," she said, "but tell me, why did you cling to me so tightly? Not that I am complaining, of course." She gave a short laugh and I felt her body tremble against me. I nearly lost my composure at the sensation.

"I...saw through his eyes after he died. I don't know where he ended up, but...he met her. They were together." I kissed her forehead to remind myself that she and I were still together as well. It was such a vivid dream that I almost felt like I had died myself.

"Good," she said as she kissed me. "I cannot say that theirs will be a happy eternity, but I'm glad they are together."

"Me too," I said as I relaxed my hold on her. We settled in a more comfortable position.

"Robin?" She sounded sleepy.

"Yes, dearest?"

"I'm glad to know that you and I found love together in that future as well. Do you want to know why?"

"Of course," I said with a yawn.

"Because," she said, "it means our love is truly eternal." I gave her a kiss and closed my eyes.

"It most certainly is."

* * *

 **A/N: What's this? TWO completely unironic "It was all a dream" endings? Madness!  
**


End file.
